For its latest production, arts group Voices Breaking Boundaries (VBB) is hoping to shed light on Freedmen's Town — one of the most historically dynamic (and most historically overlooked) neighborhoods in Houston.

Located in the Fourth Ward just west of downtown, the small African-American community sprang up at the close of the Civil War along the banks of Buffalo Bayou as former slaves relocated throughout the South after Emancipation. By the century's end, Freedmen's Town was the epicenter of African-American culture in Houston before overcrowding and segregationist city policy brought about the enclave's demise by the Second World War.

"For all its importance to the city, it's amazing how many Houstonians have never even heard of Freedmen's Town, let alone been to it."

On Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m., the "Home and Histories" art event will help to recover some of the neighborhood's vibrant past though a series of public performances, exhibitions and tours.

"For all its importance to the city, it's amazing how many Houstonians have never even heard of Freedmen's Town, let alone been to it," explains artist and VBB director Sehba Sarwar. "While we usually stage our productions in a house, we've decided to take 'Homes and Histories' out onto the street so people can experience the neighborhood."

To offer a global point of comparison, VBB also will focus on Lyari, one of Karachi's oldest neighborhoods and home to a large community that traces its roots to east Africa. Pakistan-based photographer Akbar Baloch will share three decades of images he's taken of Lyari.